Ben's Ten

1. Ben is totally starting to dig hide and seek. He thinks the game is very funny and especially loves to play at Grandma and Grandpa’s house and at church.
2. Ben’s version of ordering sausage pizza - “I would like meatball pizza. But I want the meatballs to be small so I can pick them off and eat them with my fingers if I want.”
3. Ben’s new favorite game is Uno Moo! He is totally getting into learning rules and playing games quite a bit.
4. Ben enjoyed the Olympics almost as much as his dad. He really liked watching the skaters and skiers and thought the snow cars (bobsleds) were so cool!
5. During the Olympics, Ben learned that we like to cheer for the USA. He also really liked Canica (Canada) and would often cheer for both teams to do well.
6. Ben likes to make Mario eyebrows. He moves his eyebrows up and down and says he looks like Mario on the car racing game.
7. Ben would move to Chuggington if it were a real place. He is best friends with Koko, Wilson and Brewster and gets to watch them after good days at school.
8. We have been cooking some meals as a family and Ben loves measuring and pouring. He is quite the helper! It has also helped explore new foods.
9. We knew he would find out someday - Ben got to go to Chuck E. Cheese and thinks it is the coolest place ever.
10. We have enjoyed seeing Ben’s fashion sense (or sense of independence) grow – he is very into picking out his own clothes and “matching” his socks to the outfit. We end up with some fantastic combinations!

Pretty in Pink

Elizabeth Clare is one! What a whirlwind of a year! As we sit back and reflect, we are just simply blessed. Two beautiful and healthy children - what more could you ask for?

Elizabeth had a great checkup at the doctor. She now weighs a little over 19 pounds and is 30 inches tall – long and lean! The doctor was impressed with her mouth full of chompers and how much she wanted to “talk” at the visit.

Elizabeth enjoys dancing to her favorite tunes. She really thinks she has some smooth moves. E claps along and loves to join in and cheer for anyone. She really gets tickled when others join into her clapping and dancing and just beams with delight that she has started such fun!

Elizabeth is passionate for her Puffs and Cheerios. She crams them into her mouth by the handfuls and frantically signs for more as she is finishing the last few on her tray. She is just a good eater all around and doesn’t seem to have any dislikes yet. She is in the process of switching to whole milk and the only noticed affect is that she seems to be sleeping a little better at night. That could also be because she is over a stuffy nose and not currently working on any teeth that were both recently giving her trouble. The reason is not important though – sleep is great.

Some of Ellie’s favorite things at school are to pop bubbles, bounce toys on the floor and terrorize the motor room. She apparently likes to do laps around the room and climb on anything and everything that gets in her way. She is also in the thick of the “everything goes into my mouth” phase. She has always put some things in her mouth, but now, there is very little that doesn’t go into her mouth. She chews on paper, her baby dolls, teethers, stickers that Brother accidentally drops, woodwork, furniture, clothing, etc. She will even remove a sock sometimes just to have something to chew on. (She’s up to 10 teeth and counting.) E is also the “queen bee” of the classroom as she is one of very few girls. She only had one other girl in her class of twelve until recently and now there are three. Elizabeth races to her teachers and requests to be picked up (imagine a high pitched shriek with arms raised). If she gets her way she will then go into this little gibberish language and pointing and “tell” the teacher where she would like to go around the room and what she would like to look at. Must be nice, E! :)

There will be just as many new discoveries and changes coming in the year ahead. We look forward to her increasing agility, improving communication and budding personality. Happy birthday, sweet Ellie-bellie! We love you!

Ben’s Thoughts and Questions about God

Ben has been asking more questions about God lately and wanting to know some tough answers about his faith. Here are some of our favorite questions, thoughts and interactions.

“When I grow up will I be as big as God? When will I be tall enough to reach God?” After trying to explain that God would always be bigger, Ben got angry and replied that he would build a tower to climb up and see God and then he would be as big as God.

“After I grow up and become a dad, I would like to grow wings and fly up like an angel to visit God.”

During a recent car ride, Ben all of a sudden asked us if we trusted God. After responding that we did, he replied that he was very worried because he didn’t know how to trust God and didn’t know if he could. We tried to reassure him that was something that would come with time and what that might look/feel like, but right now he is pretty concerned that he isn’t sure he trusts in the Lord.

“What is a soul?” Mom and Dad tried to explain the various meanings of soul/sole and started getting even more questions.

In the parking lot at school one morning, Mom was still getting Elizabeth out of the car. Ben started yelling “Hey!” at the top of his lungs. Mom asked if he was trying to get the attention of some birds and he replied, “No, Mom. I am saying hello to God.”

“If this is Baby Jesus’ birthday, when is Santa’s birthday?”

Ben asked one of his Grandmas why the baby Jesus was born and then promptly dismissed her answer and told her that it was because God needed a special helper.